http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20105.html full
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has unveiled a new policy to discourage its business customers from switching to Linux or other open source alternatives. Called Open Value, the new offer is part of the software giant's Licensing 6 volume licensing program. "What's happening is that Microsoft sales reps have been instructed to be on the lookout for any businesses that are migrating some of their machines to the Lindows OS," Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio told NewsFactor. "If [the sales reps] think there's a real threat of some pretty large numbers of defections to open source, they can request authorization from Microsoft higher-ups to offer steeply discounted pricing." DiDio said that in some cases, the discounts could be as high as 50 percent.....